Ittihad of Alexandria knocks Zamalek out of Zayed Club Champions Cup

Ittihad of Alexandria have qualified for the quarterfinals of the Zayed Club Champions Cup after a 1-1 draw on aggregate and a hectic penalty kick shootouts

Ittihad have overturned a 1-0 defeat in the first leg to be the first Egyptian side to compete in the quarterfinals of the competition this season, awaiting Ismaily’s second leg with Raja’ Casablanca on the 11th of December

The game witnessed a shared possession between the two contenders, however more chances for the Whites and a brilliance from both sides’ keepers as Mahmoud Gennesh and El Hany Soliman manned both their nets for the whole half

Mahmoud Kahraba was granted the first attempt of the match in the early moments of the game as he collected the ball from inside the penalty area and made his shot but the ball went off the target

On the 27th minute, Ibrahim Hassan caught Kasongo Kabongo running solo towards the goal and the Congolese forward brilliantly reacted however was surrounded by two defenders and failed to take the lead for the Whites

On the 30th minute mark, Khaled Ammar was close to head in the first for Ittihad but Gennesh was focused enough to catch the ball from getting in

Riot from Ittihad of Alexandria fans delayed the start of the second half after a couple of stone and water bottles have been thrown on the pitch.

The first 20 minutes of the second half lacked any efforts towards the nets for both sides as the first dangerous attack came from Youssef Obama as he solely received the ball at the edge of the box and stroke his shot that went inches above the crossbar

On the 77th minute of the game, Mahmoud Kahraba launched a powerful run on the left side as he cleared space for Obama inside the box however he sent the ball too high from the target

The equalizer goal came in the 84th minute of the game as the substitute Emmanuel Banahene jumped high and converted Razack Cisse’s cross with a glancing header in the dying moments of the game

The game went straight to the penalties shootouts as they reached six penalties for each Zamalek missed three through Mahmoud Alaa, Hamdy El Nagguez and Abdullah Gomaa while Ittihad claimed the win missing two through Mohamed Bazouka and Karim El Deeb

Following the win, Ittihad of Alexandria now joined Etoile du Sahel, MC Alger, Al Wasl and Al Hilal in the quarterfinals of the competition still awaiting sides where all will be fully determined by the 11th of December.